New US paper aims at Afghan war truth

A newspaper aimed at providing news of the war in Afghanistan is to be launched this month. Its editors argue that the mainstream media in the US are not providing a full picture of the war and its effects.

War Times, produced in San Francisco, will make its first bi-weekly appearance on April 12. It will be published in English and Spanish and will be distributed throughout the US.

Its editors say it is a response to a demand for more information about what is happening in Afghanistan and the possibility of conflict elsewhere.

The venture is supported by a number of academics, including Noam Chomsky, labour organisations and anti-war groups.

Its managing editor, Bob Wing, said the response to the idea had been extraordinary. "We originally planned to print only 7,500 copies of the pilot," he said, "but the demand was so great that we printed and distributed 100,000."

He said the aim was to bring more information about the war into the public debate and "to report hidden truths, to put a human face on events, and explore the real interests behind the 'permanent war'."

The pilot issue carried an interview with the actor Danny Glover, who said: "Bombing Afghanistan and creating the idea that the US is the judge, the jury and the executioner is the wrong way to respond."

"It's hard because of the anger, the pain and the humiliation we feel about September 11. But we have to understand that other people have faced the same kind of pain, the same kind of anger.

"Their lives have been transformed by acts of terrorism and violence, often supported or perpetrated by the US."